Geneva international organizations host major world AIDS Day event

The World Council of Churches (WCC), UNAIDS, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), will gather together for the first time to mark World AIDS Day with a joint event on

1 December 2003, 16h00

at the Ecumenical Centre - 150 route de Ferney, Geneva

The event will feature a performance by the

Soweto Red Cross Volunteers’ Choir,

comprised of Red Cross volunteers working with HIV/AIDS patients in Soweto, South Africa. During the performance, an HIV-positive choir member will offer a testimony.

Welcoming participants from international organizations, missions, local churches and other Geneva-based organizations will be:

Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, WCC general secretary-elect

Dr Musimbi Kanyoro, World YWCA general secretary andEAA board member

Dr Paul DeLay, UNAIDS director of Monitoring and Evaluation

Mr Juan Manuel Suárez del Toro Rivero, IFRC president

The choir performance will be followed by a reception and exhibits by organizations fighting HIV/AIDS.

Before the event, at 15h30 in the Ecumenical Centre chapel, there will be an ecumenical service of remembrance led by the World Young Women’s Christian Association.